UPDATE - ‘Still a chance’ for post-Brexit trade deal: Merkel

ADDS MERKEL’S COMMENTS ON TURKEY

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed hope on Wednesday that the UK and the EU could reach a post-Brexit trade deal in the coming days.

“There is still a chance for an agreement,” she told German lawmakers during a debate on her government’s 2021 budget proposal.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to know by tomorrow whether we would achieve this or not. I can’t promise that. But we are still working on it,” she added.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday evening in a last-ditch attempt to reach a post-Brexit trade deal before the transition period expires on Dec. 31.

Merkel said the EU members were also ready for a no-deal scenario if the British side would raise unacceptable conditions during the negotiations.

The leaders of EU member states will gather in Brussels on Thursday for a two-day summit to discuss UK’s exit from the bloc, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other international issues.

- EU-Turkey relations

Merkel said EU leaders will also discuss recent tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and relations with Turkey during their December summit.

The chancellor expressed regret that despite Berlin’s considerable efforts in the last six months, they could not achieve much progress in fostering dialogue between the EU and Turkey.

She criticized Ankara’s drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, but did not make any comment on recent calls by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration to impose severe sanctions on Turkey.

“We now have to take a decision on how to proceed further,” she said.

Amid recent tensions in the region, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have increased their pressure recently on other EU members to impose arms embargo or severe sanctions on Turkey.

The EU’s current term president Germany and majority of EU members have been reluctant so far to take such action.

Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, and stressed that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.

Ankara has sent several drill ships in recent months to explore for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting its own rights in the region, as well as those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara is in favor of resolving all outstanding problems in the region through international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue, and negotiation.